SAVE The SALT! The Bonneville Salt Flats Need Your Help Now!

Help Save The Salt, and contact Utah legislators to voice your wishes to support funding to restore the Bonneville Salt Flats. The future of land speed racing at the Bonneville Salt Flats is in jeopardy, as a decrease in the size and thickness of the flats has resulted in the cancellation of races and fewer international racers making the pilgrimage each year. The State of Utah must take the lead in restoring this legendary world-renowned race venue.

The effort to save the Bonneville Salt Flats has gained initial support with the State of Utah when it ranked our “Restore Bonneville” program 4 out of 28 for funding through its Fiscal Year 2020 budget. Now the Executive Appropriations Committee needs to hear from you AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to keep the funding request ranked high enough to move forward. A few minutes of your time will help us to get a much-needed win for the salt flats. We respectfully request that you email a letter to Utah legislators listed below asking the State of Utah to fund a “Restore Bonneville” program. The letters with the most horsepower will come from Utah residents or USFRA members who race on the salt, (think blown fuel streamliner), with the next power-added group being Any Utah resident (think blown fuel lakester) followed up with residents of any state that use, or visit the salt flats. However, even letters from people outside the USA will remind Committee Members that people come from all over the globe to race on the salt.

Instructions Utah residents and/or Bonneville racers should note that in the subject line and the first line of their message. This helps legislators quickly recognize important emails. Sample letter is below the email addresses. Please add at least TWO of the talking points supplied below and feel free to personalize any way you wish. It would be helpful to send a copy of the letter to Save the Salt (ADDRESS AT BOTTOM) to help us track how many supporters we have in this phase. EVERY EMAIL MATTERS! Example Subject Line: I’m a UT resident, Please Support Funding for Bonneville OR I visit/race the Bonneville Salt Flats, Please Support Funding for Bonneville, or I’m a member of The Utah Salt Flats Racing Association asking that you PLEASE support funding for Bonneville.

Please personalize the message with your own involvement with Bonneville. Below is a sample letter followed by potential talking points. Feel free to incorporate as appropriate. You can send an email or, better yet, on letterhead and email as a PDF. Sample letter [Date]

Dear Appropriators:

(First line – who you are and why you are writing. . . .I’m a UT resident, I visit/race the Bonneville Salt Flats, I’m a member of The Utah Salt Flats Racing Association asking that you PLEASE support funding for Bonneville.) In your capacity as a member of the Utah Executive Appropriations Committee, I am writing to support a request made by Rep. Steve Handy that Utah fund $5 million for a state “Restore Bonneville” program. The money would leverage an additional $45 million from the federal government and approximately $2.5 million from the racing community. The Restore Bonneville program would implement H.C.R. 8, a resolution sponsored by Rep. Handy and Sen. Peter Knudson in 2016 to support restoration of the Bonneville Salt Flats. The resolution was unanimously passed by the Utah House and Senate and signed by Governor Herbert. The Bonneville Salt Flats are a unique land formation that bring visitors from around the world to Utah. For racers, the surface is unequaled. The hard salt crust is perfect for both speed and safety. Bonneville is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and deemed an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. Until 1997, salt removed from Bonneville for potash processing under leases issued by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was not replaced. Since that time, the mining company has pumped salt brine onto Bonneville.

The racing community represented by the Save the Salt Coalition, the Utah Alliance and the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) have worked with Utah lawmakers and regulators, including the U.S. Congressional delegation, along with the BLM and Intrepid Potash, Inc. to create the Restore Bonneville program. The program will dramatically increase the volume of salt being pumped onto the Bonneville Salt Flats by Intrepid from the current levels of 0.6 million tons/year or less to about 1.5 million tons/year. As a result, the racing venue will gradually expand from its current length of about 8 miles toward with the goal of reaching the original 13-mile racing venue.

Thank you again for your support for restoring the Bonneville Salt Flats. Sincerely, [Name]